By Daniel Johnson-Kim, Sports Editor
If every syllabus I got this week isn’t lying, and the mission of the university is “to educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world,” Rep. Ted Poe should be ACU’s poster child.
While the media wastes our time with breaking news on Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton’s fake crying, the 1970 ACU graduate, judge and congressman from Houston is fighting for justice on Capitol Hill.
Jamie Leah Jones, a constituent of Poe, accused coworkers at the former Halliburton subsidiary KBR of drugging, gang raping and holding her against her will inside the Baghdad Green Zone during the summer of 2005.
After waking up with sore breasts, vaginal bleeding and a loss of memory, Jones reported the incident and was taken to an army doctor for examination. The doctor took notes and photographs, performed a forensic sexual assault examination and handed the overwhelming evidence over to KBR.
Got ’em, right? Wrong.
Once in KBR’s custody, Jones told Congress she was thrown in a ship cargo container and held without food and water for 24 hours. Jones convinced a guard to let her use a cell phone, and she desperately called her father in Texas to plead for a rescue.
That’s where Poe comes in. Jones’ father contacted Poe, the former Wildcat, and his staff urgently contacted the right people in the State Department, rescuing Jones from her employers within 48 hours.
But two and a half years after the rescue, justice remains absent.
The rape kit, photographs and doctor’s notes disappeared once in the hands of KBR, and the Department’s of Justice and State refuse to give Poe, Jones and a hoard of bipartisan congressional support answers on why the government is not actively investigating Jones’ claims.
“Who’s in charge here,” Poe said in a statement issued on Jan. 8. “The time has long passed for excuses and finger pointing . This is not a case of ‘ignore it, and it will go away.’ The American people deserve better, and Jaime Leigh Jones deserves justice. This type of blatant disregard for responsibility by our government is unacceptable.”
Poe’s fights for the investigation of Jones’ claims exemplify the character and courage that is hopefully being taught in the classrooms of this university.
He was not deterred; his questions went unanswered by the executive cabinet, he put aside partisanship for the sake of justice and shows no signs of giving up.
Jones will get her justice, and Poe should get a medal.
